An insight into the creepy festival of ghouls
and vampires. DESIGN: AMNA IQBAL

Those sensitive to changing weather will notice that
near Halloween (October 31), a perceptible chill enters the air —
everything is at once mysterious and nostalgic. This is the time of
All Hallow’s Eve, a precursor to All Saint’s Day
on November 1 (Halloween’s Christian variant).

In truth, Halloween’s roots go deep; the ‘day of the dead’ stems
from Celtic folkloric traditions and boasts a rich history — later
transformed by Christian traditions.

A brief history

According to an article on watchman.org, Rick Branch (in
Samhain: History of Halloween) traces All Hallow’s Eve to Samhain
(pronounced Sa-wain), celebrated by the indigenous Celts and Druids
of the British Isles. Today, the festival is still celebrated by
small sects of Druids, Wicca-practitioners and Neopagans.

Halloween— as we know it today— borrows its specifically
supernatural textures from this pagan festival of the dead: “The
observances connected with Halloween are believed to have
originated among the ancient Druids, who believed that on the
evening, Saman, the lord of the dead, called forth hosts of evil
spirits”, reports Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia.

It was perhaps the most momentous celebration of the Celtic
year, hailed as a day of preternatural potency, when the veils
between our world and the ‘otherworld’ of sinister entities wane
and become closely linked.

Confusing malevolent spirits

Modern Halloween get ups — ghosts, ghouls, monsters, spirits,
vampires and so forth — are a derivative of traditional Celtic
costuming. More than just dressing up for a rollicking Halloween
rager or scaring friends and relatives witless, Halloween costumes
actually safeguard us from the spirits of the dead. The ancient
Druids and Celts wore animal skins and masks on Samhain to confuse
spirits that passed through the physical plane on this charged
day.

Trick or treat, spirits be gone!

Ever wonder why people go trick or treating on Halloween and
leave massive bowls of candy outside their homes? They unknowingly
protect their homes from evil beings and entities that may want to
get inside. The practice also originates from a Samhain custom, in
which food was left out for spirits to bar them from getting past
the threshold into one’s home.

Others trace the ‘trick or treat’ ritual to Celtic beggars, who
would show up at the homes of the rich demanding alms and food,
threatening homeowners with ‘evil spirits’ if they refused.

Paranormal Pumpkins

“Carving Jack-o-lanterns is also a tradition that came from the
Celts — only they used turnips instead of pumpkins”, reports
historyofhalloween.net. The legend of the Jack-o-lantern begins
with Jack, a local prankster and drunk, who succeeded in tricking
the devil to climb up a tree and trapped him there. Jack made a
deal, making the devil promise to never tempt Jack again. When Jack
died, his soul was neither allowed into Heaven (for his evil ways)
nor into Hell (for trapping the Devil). His poor, unwanted soul
forced its way back to the cold winters with nothing but an ember
to light the way. Jack placed the light into a hollowed out turnip
to make it last longer. Upon coming to America, the Irish switched
to using the pumpkin, finding it more spacious and lasting.

It’s too bad that Halloween’s rich and interesting etymology
remains elusive to so many — the combination of Christian
influences and a capitalist agenda have leeched this day of its
age-old sacredness. Pumpkins carved into grotesque visages, a
litany of supernatural costuming, door-to-door ‘trick or treat’
visits, specials on television and wild parties define this annual
holiday — watered down and appropriated by Hallmark and the efforts
of commercialism.

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